1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a remote care system for an apartment building and a remote monitoring apparatus used in the remote care system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, major appliances such as air conditioners have been increasingly sophisticated. For example, an air conditioner captures the position or movement of a person with built-in imager or motion sensor, and controls the air condition to be suitable for the person's condition. Further, the air conditioner uses the motion sensor for sensing entry of any suspicious person, and for watching over children or pets. For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-071595 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Literature 1”) discloses a major appliance having the above-described functions.
Further, the recent increase in the number of elderly people who live alone requires popularization of remote care systems for watching over such elderly people. The remote care systems are implemented in various modes. For example, there is provided a remote care system in which information from a sensor built in a major appliance, which is used in ordinary households and therefore familiar to an elderly person, is used for watching over the elderly person. In this manner, the elderly person being watched over becomes less conscious of being monitored. Further, the remote care system optimally controls the major appliance according to the condition of the elderly person. As a result, the remote care system comfortable for elderly people is provided.
However, how to implement and operate a remote care system for an apartment building using major appliances is not commonly known.